If you think it takes hours to achieve great-tasting beef stew, think again! This Ground Beef Stew is filled with hearty vegetables, quick-cooking hamburger meat and rich stew in 45 minutes or less! Read below for step-by-step photos, a how-to video and my top secrets to get the slow-simmered flavor in a fraction of the time.

Delicious beef stew made with ground hamburger meat in a blue bowl with the soup pot in the background

Table of contents

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Ground Beef Stew Ingredients

  • Ground Beef: The star of this recipe is hamburger meat or ground beef. It cooks much faster than stew meat and doesn’t require hours of cooking to make it tender. Use a relatively lean ground beef such as 85% or 90% lean.
  • Vegetables: Potatoes (Yukon gold or red potatoes), carrots, celery, parsnips. Any root vegetable is good in this broth, and you can use all sorts of other vegetables too like green beans or sweetcorn.
  • Beef broth or stock: I use a low-sodium broth. You can also use chicken broth, vegetable broth or even water in a pinch. If you use water, be sure to add extra salt at the end. 
  • Dry Red Wine: Using dry red wine gives a depth of flavor to beef broth that is quite unique. If you don’t want to cook with alcohol, you can leave it out or replace it with the same amount in extra beef broth.
  • Seasoning and Spices: A key to great flavor is to amp up the spices. I add in paprika, red chili flakes, Thyme and salt to amp up the flavors. Worcestershire sauce adds a salty, sour, and umami flavor which makes the stew richer. This really helps boost the flavors for a fast stew.
  • Garlic and onion: Key to complex flavor is cooking the onion and garlic in oil until they start to brown. This adds so much flavor and provides a savory richness to the stew.
  • Pantry Staples: To sear the beef choose a neutral cooking oil like avocado oil or organic canola oil. You’ll also need a little cornstarch to thicken the hamburger stew.
  • Garnish: Fresh parsley adds a fresh green element. You could also add in some frozen peas or cut green beans for the last couple minutes.

How to make Hamburger Stew

brown the hamburger meat in the pot
Step 1: Brown the hamburger meat then set aside

Step One: Brown the ground beef and set aside

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the bottom of a large heavy bottom soup pot over high heat. Add beef, and cook, stirring occasionally and crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon until it is no longer pink, 7 to 9 minutes. Browning the meat helps to improve the flavor and adds complexity to the taste. Remove the meat to a bowl, along with any juices from the pot, and cover with foil.

adding wine to the onion and spices
Step 2: Sauté the onion and garlic. Add seasoning and then deglaze.

Step 2: Saute garlic and onion, add seasoning and wine

Return the pot to the stove and reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pot. Add garlic and onion, and cook stirring until the onion starts to brown in spots, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika, salt, thyme and red pepper flake if using, and cook, stirring until the spices are fragrant, about 30 seconds. Blooming the spices before adding liquid helps to bring out their flavors. Add wine, increase heat to high and cook, stirring until the wine has almost evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.

the pot with the broth and veggies added
Step 3: Add the broth and veggies and cook until tender

Step 3: Add broth and vegetables and simmer

Add 3 ½ cups broth, potatoes, carrots, celery, parsnips and Worcestershire and stir well. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium to maintain a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just tender, 15 to 18 minutes.

the stew after the ground beef is added back in and the veggies are tender
Step 4: Thicken the stew with cornstarch slurry then add the beef back in

Step 4: Add broth with cornstarch, add beef and simmer

Stir the remaining ½ cup broth with cornstarch, and stir into the simmering stew. Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer, stirring. Stir in the beef and return to a simmer. Remove stew from the heat and ladle into bowls. Top with parsley.

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the stew in a blue bowl with a spoon in it and the pot in the background

What To Serve With This Ground Beef Stew

Make Ahead, Leftovers, Freezing and Reheating

  • Make Ahead: Hamburger Stew is perfect for making ahead as it is great for freezing! Make a double batch and store it in the fridge or freezer in portions for later.
  • Storing Leftovers: Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
  • Freezing: You can freeze in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 6 months!
  • Reheating: Thin the stew with additional beef broth as necessary. Then heat gently on the stove, stirring over medium heat until it comes to a low simmer. Serve hot.

Chef Katie’s Pro Tip

Make this Hearty Hamburger Soup even faster: While you brown the meat in step 1, bring the 3 ½ cups broth used in step 3 to a simmer in a separate pot or in the microwave. Once it is added to the pot in step 3, the whole stew will come to a simmer more quickly, shaving 7 minutes off your total time. Just make sure not to pre-heat the ½ cup that’s mixed with the cornstarch in step 4.

FAQs For This Recipe

How can I speed up beef stew?

Beef stew made with beef chuck or stew meat must braise or simmer for 3 to 4 hours. The connective tissue in stew meat is tough and gristley and needs low slow moist heat to break down. The collagen in the meat will break down to lovely tender gelatin in 3 or so hours. To make stew any faster than that, you must use a tender cut of beef, or use ground hamburger meat instead for a shortcut.

Should you brown meat for stew?

Absolutely. Browning the meat gives you something called “fond” which enriches the stew considerably. Fond is a French culinary word for the tasty caramelized bits on the bottom of the pan when food is browned. Fond is very flavorful, creating and capturing it is the difference between a bland and rich flavored dish. To get good fond you need heat, oil, and as little moisture as possible. In this recipe we do this by heating oil on high heat and then browning the ground beef. The wider your soup pot, the more fond you’ll get. After the meat has browned take it out, and you’ll see the tasty caramelized bits of fond on the bottom and along the sides of the pot.

two steaming bowls of the hamburger stew

More Weeknight Recipes and Stew Recipes

At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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The stew close-up from a high angle so you can see how thick it is with lots of veggies and beef

Quick Ground Beef Stew

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5 from 4 reviews

  • Author: Katie Webster
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
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Description

If you think it takes hours to achieve great-tasting beef stew, think again! This Ground Beef Stew is filled with hearty vegetables, quick-cooking hamburger meat and rich stew in 45 minutes or less! Read below for step-by-step photos, a how-to video and my top secrets to get the slow-simmered flavor in a fraction of the time.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil or organic canola oil, divided
  • 1 pound lean ground beef, preferably 92% lean
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
  • pinch red chili flake, optional
  • 1/2 cup dry red wine
  • 4-cup box beef broth or stock, divided *see note
  • 2 medium Yukon gold or red potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2 carrots diced,
  • 2 stalks celery diced
  • 1 cup peeled and diced parsnips
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the bottom of a large heavy bottom soup pot over high heat. Add beef, and cook, stirring occasionally and crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon until it is no longer pink, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove the meat to a bowl, along with any juices from the pot, and cover with foil.
  2. Return the pot to the stove and reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pot. Add garlic and onion, and cook stirring until the onion starts to brown in spots, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika, salt, thyme and red pepper flake if using, and cook, stirring until the spices are fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine, increase heat to high and cook, stirring until the wine has almost evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.
  3. Add 3 ½ cups broth, potatoes, carrots, celery, parsnips and Worcestershire and stir well. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
  4. Reduce heat to medium to maintain a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Stir the remaining ½ cup broth with cornstarch, and stir into the simmering stew. Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer, stirring. Stir in the beef and return to a simmer. Remove stew from the heat and ladle into bowls. Top with parsley.

Notes

  • To speed this recipe up even more. While you brown the meat in step 1, bring the 3 ½ cups broth used in step 3 to a simmer in a separate pot or in the microwave. Once it is added to the pot in step 3, the whole stew will come to a simmer more quickly, shaving 7 minutes off your total time. Just make sure not to pre-heat the ½ cup that’s mixed with the cornstarch in step 4.
  • Take time to brown the garlic and onions in oil, reducing the heat to medium. This way the onions will cook more slowly and release their liquid, deglazing the fond a bit.
  • Make it healthier by adding more vegetables.
  • If you prefer not to cook with alcohol you can skip the wine altogether, or substitute it for non-alcoholic wine, more broth, or grape juice. 

This recipe also appears on  A Dish of Daily Life!

  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Category: Soup
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 2 cups
  • Calories: 366
  • Carbohydrates: 35 g
  • Fiber: 5 g
  • Protein: 28 g

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